During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military has already killed more than 500 Ukrainian children. Dozens of them were shot at close range by small arms. They include 10-year-old Kateryna Vinarska in Kharkiv region, 12-year-old Vladislav Magtyk in Kyiv region and 15-year-old Mykhailo Ustianovsky in Kherson region.
This was reported in a documentary by the newspaper’s War Crimes Investigation Unit Independence of Kiev.
The results of the publication point to the systematic and deliberate nature of the killing of children by the Russian military in Ukraine.
An interpretation that reconstructs the murder of Vladislav Magtic. (Yehor Kucheruk)
The Russian military discussed orders to kill civilians, including children, in intercepted messages released by Ukraine’s security service and shown in a documentary.
The journalist’s investigation not only established the clear circumstances of the three murders, but also identified the persons responsible for the murder of a child.
“The murders were committed by different Russian factions in different parts of Ukraine, but they all seem to have had the same goal – to sow terror,” the investigation said.
Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Center for Civil Rights and one of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, sees the killings of children as part of a policy of targeted terrorism by the Russian military in Ukraine. He considers these war crimes to be part of Russian military culture.
“Russian troops committed terrible crimes in Chechnya, Syria, Georgia, Mali, Libya and other countries, and they were not punished,” says Matviychuk. “They believe that everything is allowed to them. This long tradition of impunity has become part of Russian culture.”
The circumstances surrounding the killing of three Ukrainian children by the Russian military have been described in detail By connection.
War crimes of the Russian Federation, terrorism, genocide, war, children
